A government source told The Daily News this afternoon International Paper, which will be seeking incentives soon to help the company keep and expand its headquarters here, will move forward with seeking 15-year tax freezes on multiple buildings. That’s in contrast to the possibility of a 30-year tax freeze the company originally tested the waters on.
An Economic Development Growth Engine Board meeting was expected as early as next week to vote on the project.
“Apparently, they worked it out, liked we’d hoped they would,” said Shelby County Commissioner Mike Ritz.

The Downtown Memphis Commission has launched the South Main Design Challenge, a new initiative to generate creative ideas and showcase new concept plans for seven key sites in the South Main Neighborhood.

The Challenge is part of the DMC’s year-long focus on the South Main district. The purpose is to develop innovative and original ideas for how to reuse vacant and underutilized spaces and buildings within the district.

The South Main Design Challenge will apply the talent of local architects, urban designers, property and business owners, artists, students, and Downtown stakeholders in visioning the highest and best future use of the following development sites:

Huling Parking Lot

Talbot Lot

Lyric Panel Lot

Ambassador Hotel Site

Army / Navy Park

Russell Hardware Site

Buffalo Mural Lot

The DMC is accepting applications for teams interested in participating in the Design Challenge. Each team will be assigned to a specific site and asked to develop both a short-term concept and long-term vision for their site.

The short-term concept plan will imagine how to strategically transform the site into a community asset on a budget of less than $5,000. Potential site reuse ideas could include concepts such as a dog park, public art or sculpture park, passive or active recreation, and places for community gathering.

The long-term vision plan should provide a concept for what high-quality future development could look like on the site. Design concepts should be respectful of the historic character of the area while striving to be vibrant, memorable places that are a product of their own time.

The winning team will receive an award plaque, special recognition on the project website, and a $1,000 prize. The deadline to register a team is Jan. 14. Click here for more information.

It was part of a new LaunchYourCity initiative called Upstart Memphis and according to Danielle Inez (the founder of Pink Robin Avenue, an event planning tool and the idea that won the weekend) – “I expected a little bit of #GirlPower, but we jump-started four awesome businesses,” she tweeted.

A Focused Path is looking to start a social hub for parents and schoolchildren to keep up with activities. Care2Manage seeks to help people care for elderly loved ones at home by finding the best providers in a local area. And Mentor.Me is trying to find a better way to match mentors and mentees.

In fact, Brittany Fitzpatrick’s Mentor.Me is going to February’s “Everywhere Else.co” startup conference in Memphis. That, according to her, is thanks to funding from 48 House Launch attendees.